The Speaker of the Czech Parliament Tomio Okamura ordered the removal of the Ukrainian flag from the building on his first day in his new position.
He posted the video on the social network X.
The flag had been flying there since the start of the full-scale invasion as a sign of support for Ukraine.
"This is a certain symbol. The Ukrainian flag was removed from the building of the Czech Chamber of Deputies on my order, and it took a few seconds," Okamura said in a comment to the iDNES media outlet.
In the comments on the video of the removal of the Ukrainian flag, former Czech Deputy Prime Minister Marian Jurecka criticized Okamura, calling him a "pathetic person".
"You began your presidency of the parliament by removing the Ukrainian flag. Finally, the parliament building got rid of this ʼdangerous fabricʼ that hung there as a reminder of solidarity, courage, assistance, and European values. You removed the flag for which adult men, women, children, and the elderly die every day — soldiers defending their country, or defenseless victims," Yurecka wrote.
In response to Okamuraʼs order to remove the flag from the parliament building, Czech deputies hung other Ukrainian flags from the windows of their offices.
"The House of Representatives is not his property. The flag of Ukraine, as an expression of our support for the country that is bombed daily by Putinʼs terrorists, should be on the building of the House of Representatives. That is why my colleagues from our club and I immediately took care of correcting the situation," the outgoing Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova captioned a photo with the Ukrainian flag hanging.
She was joined by the deputy leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Martin Kupka, who called the new speaker of the Czech parliament a "spreader of fear and hatred".
"Anyone who is truly concerned about the pro-Western orientation of our country and can distinguish who is the aggressor and who is the victim should feel nothing but shame," Kupka wrote in X.
The Czech Pirate Party also returned the flag that Tomio Okamura "shamefully removed" from the House of Representatives building.
The Ukrainian flag also hung on the facade of the National Museum in Prague from the first days of the Russian invasion. But the museum recently removed it.
Tomio Okamura is a Czech politician of Japanese descent who takes a pro-Russian position, although he previously promoted anti-Russian sentiments.
Before the elections, he demanded a review of residence permits for Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic. The politician also believes that Ukrainians are taking jobs away from Czechs and preventing them from receiving gas from Russia.
What is known about the new Czech government?
Former Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala reported that his government will resign on November 6. The current ministers will continue to perform their duties temporarily until a new government is appointed.
ANO party leader Andrej Babis is already in talks to form a government with the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the right-wing populist Motorists for Their Own Party.
Babis, who won parliamentary elections in October, signed a coalition agreement with eurosceptic forces. The new government could dramatically change the Czech Republicʼs foreign policy course — in particular, Babis has reported his intention to reduce aid to Ukraine and abandon the "shell initiative" that provides Kyiv with ammunition.
Babis is also considering joining the "anti-Ukrainian alliance" that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is trying to create with Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
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